Killer is Dead: PS3 Review

Killer is Dead: PS3 Review

Platform: PS3
Released by Deep Silver

What a weird game this is.

From Suda51 who brought us the disposable bubble gum pop of Lollipop Chainsaw, Killer is Dead is a rather bizarre hack and slash game which struggles a little to make any kind of rational sense.

You play Mondo Zappa, an executioner with a cyborg arm, who's given jobs to do by a government organisation. Mondo's favourite weapon of choice is a sword which he hacks and kills people with, but he's got an arm to be powered up as well.

Bizarre seems to be the order of the day with this one, as Mondo's sent out to some rather odd missions including a house which appears to be uninhabited but suddenly comes alive with hundreds of bug creatures after you've spent time giving a girl various gifts from around said mansion. That then turns into a major boss fight and a chance for Mondo to kill his way to victory.

Once you've completed levels, you get paid and can use that cash to buy extra lives (a Mika ticket, so called because when used, your assistant Mika comes hurtling to your aid, pumping your chest until you're back to life) or gifts, such as perfume or roses. You may be wondering what a hardened tough as nails assassin would want with perfume....well, these are for the rather pervy Gigolo Missions which happen on the outskirts of the game.

In these, Mondo finds himself in a bar, given the chance to ogle a girl and try and seduce her. This is done by timing your looks at her breasts, crotch and face just perfectly, to fill up your love meter. Ply her with gifts and this cold-hearted killer is likely to be in for a night of hot-blooded passion courtesy of a pneumatic lady. A failed ogling garners Mondo a slap across the face, out of pocket and out of the bar. It's rather odd, slightly sexist and degrading and actually made me feel a little uncomfortable. While you get upgrades to your cyber-arm as this happens, I'm not quite sure what the creators were thinking.

If it all sounds a little oddball and nonsensical, then perhaps you're beginning to understand the gamer's plight with Killer is Dead. It's confusing, bizarre, weird and quirky without ever fully exploiting anything other than a juvenile's obsession with the lovely ladies and breasts.

The only level that this game truly soars on is with its graphics, which are just stunningly beautiful, achingly difficult and utterly dreamlike. The mix of pastels and dreamy feel look like nothing else I've seen on the gaming spectrum all year. Stylistically, it's a potently impressive piece, but yet it sits at odds to the rest of it because of a lack of cohesion and sense.

All in all, while Killer is Dead may be some kind of riffing on the whole 007 theme (developer Suda51 has described it as "Dark side 007") it doesn't work as an in depth game play on many levels at all. It's too out there to be engrossing and too uncomfortably juvenile at times to be anything sophisticated.

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